"Alright!" Sarutobi motioned for his three kids at the village's front gate. "You all packed enough things for two days away from home?" When the three nodded, he pursed his lips at their backpacks. He remembered the one time he and his friend Danzo had to head off on a mission. The man didn't pack anything besides weapons and scrolls. He even considered terminating the mission because his friend used up all of his shampoo and his clothes stank to high heaven. "Jiraiya, let me see." Jiraiya grumbled as he handed over his pack. Opening it, he fumbled through clothes, toothbrush, and a bunch of other necessities. But then his hand knocked against something hard and his face turned splotchy as he took out a pin-up magazine. "JIRAIYA!"

Jiraiya held out both hands and stammered, "I-I was going to recycle it, sensei."

"Of course you were, pervert," Tsunade said, rolling her eyes and nudging Orochimaru. But to her surprise, he wore an extremely solemn look on his face. "Orochi?" she asked, peering up at him worriedly. When he turned his head away from her, she grew even more concerned.

"I'll be confiscating this," said Sarutobi, stashing it away into his own pack.

Jiraiya pouted and said, "You're just confiscating it so you can look at it-"

Sarutobi quickly coughed but they could all see that his cheeks were slightly red. "Also, you forgot to pack underwear."

Jiraiya gasped. "Oh right!" He slumped over and groaned. "Guess I'll just have to re-wear this one."

"EWWWWW!" Tsunade moved behind Orochimaru to get away from Jiraiya. Cringing from behind his back, she said, "You couldn't even remember to pack underwear?!"

"I bet you didn't pack a bra because you have no boobs!" Jiraiya shot back.

"WHY YOU-"

Sarutobi said loudly, "Jiraiya, that's enough. Go run and buy some underwear. Tsunade, let me check yours."

"B-but there's my girl stuff in there!" Tsunade said in embarrassment. "Don't open this one here," she said, pointing to one of the zippers.

"Alright Tsunade." He rummaged through it and said, "Oh? You even packed medicine."

"Yep!" she chirped. "Just in case anyone gets sick." Her cheeks turned pink as she glanced over at Orochimaru. He was still recovering from his cold, so she had wanted to bring along some medicine if he happened to need it.

"Very thoughtful. Looks like we'll have a future medic on our team," Sarutobi said with a smile, giving it back to her. "Orochimaru?" He was surprised to see the great reluctance in his student's expression as he slowly handed it over.

Opening it up, he looked through it carefully. His eyes widened slightly when he found a picture frame at the bottom, hidden by clothes and scrolls, showing Orochimaru with his parents. At such a young age, already looked handsome. His features were sculpted, and here... his eyes were beautiful and bright, reminiscent of sunflowers. His smile was timid and he held onto his parents' hands tightly as the posed for the picture. Sarutobi could see how Orochimaru had obtained his looks. His father was pale, had the same golden eyes, and an elegant face. Orochimaru seemed to have also inherited his mother's raven locks, and slender features. In this picture, he was simply endearing.

Immensely moved by what he had discovered, he gave his student a warm smile. "Good job with packing extra scrolls to study, Orochimaru." He handed it over and patted him on the head. "Ok, let's go when Jiraiya comes back."

Orochimaru stayed silent, putting his backpack back on his back. As they waited, Sarutobi turned his backs on them and secretly began reading the magazine he confiscated from Jiraiya. Beside him, Tsunade said cheerfully, "Let's stay up and tell ghost stories tonight."

"We are getting abit old for ghost stories," he said, lazily glancing over at her.

"Are you just scared, Orochimaru?" she asked, giving him a mischievous look. She stuck out her tongue and began making waves with her hands. "There's this one story where this guy possessed kid's bodies with his snakes!"

He smirked, feeling slightly better from her cheerfully infectious attitude and silliness. "When have I ever been even remotely spooked by your ghost stories, Tsunade-hime? In fact..." He chuckled. "Jiraiya's attempts at wooing girls is scarier than any ghost stories you can tell."

"Let's bet that you will be spooked by my ghost stories this time," Tsunade said, the fire of gambling burning brightly in her eyes.

Orochimaru chuckled, amused by how often she placed bets on things. "If I win, buy me new blankets."

She said dryly, "You're really boring sometimes."

"I'm merely practical," he replied. "I've been needing winter blankets for awhile now."

"Fine. If I win," she said, puffing out her chest and putting a hand on her necklace, "Then you'll have to catch 100 fireflies for me."

He looked at her questioningly. "Why fireflies?"

She grinned and winked. "It's a secret." When he smirked and turned his head away, she knew that he was probably thinking that he was going to win anyways. "Hmph! Just you wait Orochimaru, I'll win this bet for sure!"

Sarutobi looked over his shoulder and smiled at the two.

It took only about two hours before they arrived at the quiet and quaint farm. The farmland was rich with a variety of growing vegetables and half of the field was sparkling gold, due to the swaying canola flowers. Under a light blue sky and brilliant sun, the farm seemed to be in fine shape. Flowers in pots lined the front deck and a cobblestone pathway lead up to the door. Slowly, it opened to reveal an old couple, somewhere in their early sixties.

The woman was plump but friendly looking, her hair tied into a bun. She wore a dark purple kimono with a bright yellow obi, and her husband beside her, was about a head taller than her. His skin was tan from all the farm work and his burly form showed it as well. His hair was silvery grey and his mustache could be called impressive. In a sandy colored farmer shirt and dark work pants, it was obvious he was heading out to do some field work.

"My my," murmured the old lady as they walked up to her. "You're all such cute children."

Jiraiya instantly posed. "We're not children, we're ninjas! I am the Great Jiraiya. Behind me is my fangirl who has a crush on me, and the other one looks up to my skills."

Tsunade immediately punched him on the head. "I'll crush you alright!"

Orochimaru gave him a look of annoyance. "You have no skills, moron."

"That's enough," sighed Sarutobi. He smiled and said apologetically, "This is Jiraiya. The other two is Tsunade and Orochimaru and I'm their teacher, Sarutobi. I hope we will be of use to you for today and tomorrow."

"You may call me Marui. This is my husband, Goga." The old woman smiled. "Thank you for coming." She stepped aside and gestured to the house. "We have two spare bedrooms for you tonight. I assume you three will be sharing a room?" When Sarutobi nodded, she beckoned them inside.

The house was very traditional and made of fine dark wood. A few decorative scrolls hung on the walls and the place was very clean. As they walked, Orochimaru's golden eyes landed upon a tightly locked door that was labeled storage. Passing it, he caught a faint whiff of a sickly sweet scent and he paused, looking at it suspiciously.

"Orochimaru!" called Tsunade, waving for him at the end of the hallway.

"Hurry it up slow-poke!" added Jiraiya.

"Coming," he said slowly, moving away from the room.

"Here is your room. I'll leave you three to unpack," said the old woman gently.

The three stepped inside the simple room containing a low table that had a vase of delicate purple orchids on it, three clean and white futons that had been laid out for them, and a nice view to green land and forest from their opened Shoji door. Stepping towards it, Orochimaru gazed out at the scenery, letting the warm wind pull at his clothes and hair. Behind him, Jiraiya and Tsunade started their usual bickering.

"No Jiraiya, you're not sleeping beside me," Tsunade said firmly, throwing her backpack down on the futon on the right.

"How rude to suggest that I'd try something," Jiraiya huffed. "I'm a pervert but I am also a gentleman."

She nearly snorted. "Says the one who goes peeking around at hot springs! My mom saw you the other day."

Jiraiya beamed. "Your mom was nice. She gave me candies."

"That's because she probably thought you were dumb and just lost. But I knew what you were up to when she told me she ran into you," Tsunade said, rolling her eyes. "No, Orochimaru sleeps in the middle."

"So not fair," pouted Jiraiya.

"Hmph." Orochimaru walked over to them and dropped his pack on the middle futon. "If you sleep in the middle, we both know you'll end up with bruises. Even twitching, Tsunade-hime will punch you since she would assume you're up to no good."

"Exactly," Tsunade said, grinning.

Jiraiya made a sound before heading off. "I'll take a look around the house and explore abit before we get to the chores."

"Wait."

Jiraiya looked over at Orochimaru expectantly. "Yea?" Orochimaru stared at him, his eyes unblinking. He could feel himself starting to grow uncomfortable from the piercing gaze and he raised his hands. "What?"

Slowly, Orochimaru looked away. "Don't go to places that you're not supposed to be."

"Uhh... sure?" Jiraiya left, confused by the cryptic message.

Tsunade said worriedly, "Something bothering you?"

"I don't like this place," he answered curtly.

"Eh?" She looked around curiously. "Why?" Tsunade was surprised to see Orochimaru's eyes narrowing.

He sniffed the air before cautiously sticking his tongue out. Making a face, he said, "The air is foul."

Tsunade took in a big whiff of the air and said, "I just smell flowers. Actually, it smells really nice." She then added, "And why did you stick your tongue out?"

He shook his head and said quietly, "Just try to avoid that storage room I passed by. The scent is strongest there."

Tsunade was sent to milk the cows (he inwardly wondered if that was such a good idea. With her strength, the dairy cows might get crippled). Jiraiya headed off with Goga to work the field while he and Sarutobi was sent to pick the ripe berries and veggies.

"Orochimaru," Sarutobi said with a chuckle as he bent down to examine a bush of ripe raspberries. "Here, try one." Orochimaru's looked up questioningly as his teacher held out a cluster of raspberries toward him. Sarutobi winked and said, "We're provided with free food and house for our work, along with our usual pay for this mission. So enjoy."

He tilted his head and said curiously, "Did you reserve something like this for us, sensei?"

Laughing, Sarutobi said, "I admit I am guilty of favoritism. I wanted my own team to enjoy special treatment every once in awhile. That, and every other genin team was busy with their own missions apparently." Holding up the berries, he commanded, "Alright, open up!"

Orochimaru nervously opened his mouth and flushed red when his teacher popped it into his mouth. Chewing on and savoring the rich juices, he swallowed and said quietly, "It's good, sensei." He looked down at the basket in hand and awkwardly held it out.

"Oh ho ho," Sarutobi said in delight. "Thank you, Orochimaru." He took some and popped them into his mouth. "Well, let's get to work."

"Yes sir."

For the next two hour, they moved around the field picking berries. He did his best to be fast, not wanting to look bad in front of his teacher. It was also sort of like training in a way. You had to have a quick eye to see which was ripe, which were bad, and then you had to pick them as fast as you can.

"Orochimaru."

He looked over as his teacher said gently, "You don't seem happy."

Orochimaru dropped some of the berries into the basket and replied, "I'm happy enough, sensei."

Sarutobi said kindly, "Would you mind telling alittle more about you, Orochimaru?" When Orochimaru didn't reply, he asked, "Do you miss your parents?"

"You saw the picture, didn't you, Sarutobi-sensei?" Orochimaru asked quietly.

"I won't tell the other two," Sarutobi reassured him. "Though it's nothing to be embarrassed by."

A glimmer of sadness flickered through his golden eyes as he stopped picking berries. "I miss them."

Sarutobi kneeled down beside him, amongst the bushes of berries. He was thoughtful as he asked, "Are they the reason why you want to learn so many techniques?"

His pale student turned his head towards him and said quietly, "My parents always encouraged me to learn. They didn't like ignorance and they wanted me to be the best I could be. Other than bettering myself and learning all I can for their sake, I don't know what else to do with my time."

Sarutobi watched him carefully and asked, "Is there no other reason?"

"I do enjoy learning, sensei. Knowledge is power, and it makes me less..." He paused hesitantly. When his teacher nodded encouragingly, he said, "It makes me less frightened."

"Frightened of what?" Sarutobi asked curiously.

Orochimaru lowered his head, letting some of his hair cover his face. "It's nothing," he said. "I just think that if you can become all knowing and powerful, you won't have to fear anything."

"Remember," Sarutobi said gently. "Friends and family can also make things less scary, Orochimaru. We're all here for you."

He remembered Tsunade's words and muttered, "The Will of Fire." When Sarutobi nodded eagerly, he replied, "No one cared. Other than Tsunade who wanted to befriend me, you and Jiraiya only acknowledged my existence because of random chance."

"That's..." Sarutobi stayed silent, a look of deep sorrow creasing his face.

Orochimaru turned his serene and large golden eyes up at him. "Most people look at me and they don't like me anyways."

The words cut at Sarutobi deeply. The thought that anyone wouldn't like Orochimaru, a student he was growing incredibly fond of, made him feel incredibly ill. "Does that make you sad?" Sarutobi asked, placing a gentle hand on his student's shoulder.

He stood up, closing his eyes tiredly. "I don't care about how people think about me really. It does hurt to be lonely... but it's hurts even more to lose someone you care about." He swallowed, thinking about his parents' deaths. Looking up at his teacher who was gazing at him sorrowfully, he said quietly, "It's because we're at war."

"Hmmm?"

"It's because we're at war," he repeated, his topaz colored eyes shimmering as he remembered standing there in that cold and icy room, hearing the rain falling outside as he stood before his parents corpses and belongings, tears streaming down his face even harder than the rain outside. "That's what they said to me when I asked why my parents died."

Sarutobi's eyes widened. "Orochimaru..."

"I stopped crying after that. I understood then, how unfair and terrible this world is. Once I realized that, all I want to do is get stronger and I didn't want to get close to anyone anymore. They could be taken away from me for an even worse excuse of a reason." He looked down and let his hair cover his face. "I still question why I let Tsunade get close to me, sometimes. Even though she insists we'll always be together, I know everything will end one day."

Sarutobi could see his student's eyes growing moist and Orochimaru bit down on the side of his cheek so hard, it drew blood.

"Excuse me, sensei. I need to wash my face. There's dust in my eyes," he said emotionlessly, returning to his usual demeanor after forcing back his feelings with pain.

He watched helplessly as Orochimaru left. Something about the child simply tugged at his heart. His goals stemmed from his love for his parents, which came to a tragic and traumatizing end for him. To have such a young child face such hardships was simply cruel. He simply couldn't stand by and not help his precious student.

Orochimaru looked over to see his white hair teammate 'ooohing' and 'ahhhing' over the food.

"Wow!" Jiraiya drooled to see the lunch that had been prepared for them. Seated on the ground with their legs crossed, they all sat before a large circular table and looked eagerly at their lunch. Salads, spring rolls, steaming soft rice, rice balls, yakitori that had the grilled chicken pieces dripping with honey, and miso soup was readied for them. The doors to the dining room was opened, giving them all the chance to look at the nice scenery of a golden farm that was ripe with canola flowers while they had their meal.

"Eat as much as you like," gushed the old woman. She smiled and said wistfully, "It's so nice to have children running around the place again."

Her husband patted her hand. "Let's not dwell on the past. Come, the food is getting cold, love."

"Itadakimasu!"

Orochimaru took a sip of green tea, his eyes blank as steam rose up from the hot liquid. Once again, he could detect that same faint sickly sweet smell and he fidgeted in discomfort.

"Orochimaru," Tsunade said cheerfully, holding out a cup of cold milk. "Here try some! They're freshly squeezed too!" She beamed when the old lady stroked her head. "I had fun milking the cows today hehe."

Jiraiya quickly swallowed his mouthful of rice ball and asked, "Can I have a cup too?"

"Geez," Tsunade sighed, handing over the second cup. Turning back to Orochimaru, she held up the first cup for him.

"No thank you. I don't like anything that's cold, Tsunade," he declined politely, sipping his tea.

Her eyes grew worried at hearing her name without the princess part. Whenever he called her by her name, the topic was either serious, she was making him angry, or he wasn't in a good mood.

Jiraiya chewed on his chicken and said, "Hey, she saved it for you. The least you can do is try some you rude snake."

"Jiraiya," Sarutobi said sternly. Holding out his hand, he said kindly, "I was wanting a cup of milk. You don't mind, Tsunade?"

"Course not, here you go sensei." She forced on a smile and handed it over to their teacher. Picking up her chopsticks, she began eating. While her teacher talked to the old couple about how they had been doing the past few years and stuff like that, Jiraiya was busy wolfing down food like a starving man. But Orochimaru barely touched anything besides his miso soup and a rice ball. "Hey," she said quietly. "Are you still sick? I have medicine." She then noticed that Jiraiya had single-handedly ate all the chicken that had been cooked with honey. "Hey! You ate all the honey chicken idiot! Orochimaru didn't even get one!"

"I'm fine," he replied, delicately picking up some rice with his chopsticks and chewing on it slowly. He kept his ears trained on the conversation with his teacher and the couple, listening for anything that seemed suspicious. He narrowed his eyes when he realized that even their clothes gave off that sickly weird smell.

Jiraiya looked over at Orochimaru over the rim of his cup of milk. There was definitely something wrong with the pale genius. He was even more gloomy than normal. There was practically an invisible raincloud of misery raining over his head. Pursing his lips, he decided to turn that frown upside down. It was totally spoiling the mood around here.

"Hey Orochi, try some of this," Tsunade said, leaning forward to grab some spring rolls for him.

"ACHOOOOOO!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Tsunade screamed when Jiraiya practically sprayed a mouthful of milk across the table and into her face. Beside her, Orochimaru had managed to partially shield himself with his rice bowl and with Tsunade taking the blunt of the blow as she made to pass him food. But even he was dripping with milk. Lowering his dish, he said in disgust, "I am almost fully recovered from my cold. I don't need you to spread more germs to me, idiot."

"I'll kill you!" shrieked Tsunade, standing up with raised fists.

Jiraiya quickly jumped up from the table and hopped out the window. "You'll have to catch the great Jiraiya first!" he laughed, baiting her to chase him.

"Hmph." Standing up, Orochimaru stretched his arms briefly before making a hand seal. "Hime, bait him to the nearby river."

Tsunade grinned and ran out the door as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Alright!"

Sarutobi slowly put down his dish and said quietly, "I apologize for the ruined meal."

Goga roared with laughter and waved him off. "That was hilarious!"

His wife laughed as well. "Will you be going after them?"

"I should yes," Sarutobi said with a chuckle. "I don't think Jiraiya knows how to swim."

"Ack I'm all wet!" screeched Tsunade. She raised up a fist and hit Jiraiya on the head, making him sink down the waters of the river.

On the shore, Orochimaru sighed and splashed some water on his face. He watched for abit as Tsunade and Jiraiya splashed water at each other before saying, "Let's go back."

"Coming!" Tsunade ran over to him, waters splashing around her ankles. Jiraiya followed closely behind.

They made to head back to the distant farm when all of a sudden, Sarutobi showed up. "I hope you three are ready for some training. Making your teacher run after you like this is bad for my digestion."

Tsunade gaped. They were going to train while on the mission? "Ehhhhh? We haven't done much. We even got free food and a place to stay. Is this really a mission, sensei?"

Sarutobi shrugged and said, "The couple was more interested in seeing little kids run around than getting actual chores done. That was the main point in their request." Orochimaru crossed his arms, a suspicious look on his face.

Jiraiya asked, "What are we training for, sensei?"

"Watch carefully, all of you." Walking towards a tree, he began walking up it. Standing upside down, he was amused by their look of amazement. "It never gets old," he chuckled.

"Wow! I wanna do that!" Jiraiya charged up the tree. But before he even took more than five steps, he fell down. "Owww!"

"Jiraiya..." Sarutobi rolled his eyes as his student landed head first on to the grass. Releasing his chakra hold, he landed beside him and said, "Listen closely you three." He began explaining to them on how to mold chakra. "You need to combine both body and spirit energy to the fullest, to maximize chakra cost. The worst you are, the quicker you'll tire out during a fight. You'll also need to know how much chakra for each element you'll need to use for certain techniques to make it more effective and powerful. This training will help you with that."

Orochimaru stared at the tree that loomed over their heads. "It's hard to focus chakra to the feet. If we climb that way, we'll get to practice controlling and mixing chakra."

"Very good Orochimaru," praised Sarutobi, once again impressed by his insight. "Alright, pick your tree and get started. As you're all beginners, run to give yourself an extra push."

Orochimaru closed his eyes and concentrated hard, pushing his chakra to his feet. Once he was ready, he charged up the three at the same time as Tsunade and Jiraiya. He looked over in amusement when Jiraiya fell backwards, screaming his head off. His chakra starting to weaken, he hurriedly grabbed onto a branch and swung himself on top of it. On the other tree, he could see Tsunade continuing to head upwards until she reached the very top and cheered.

"Sensei! Look look! I'm at the top!" She grinned mischievously and said, "And it looks like Jiraiya is at the bottom."

"Shut up you flat ironing board!" retorted Jiraiya. He ran for it when she threw a thick tree branch at him.

Sarutobi laughed. "Very good, Tsunade. Looks like you have the best chakra control here."

She giggled in delight, calmly walking down the tree with her skill. When Orochimaru landed down beside her, she was happy when he said, "You did well, hime. I didn't think you'd get it on the first try."

"Not every day I beat you at something," she said with a wink. "You should get me something for this." She could see him smirk in amusement.

"Perhaps," he replied, turning back to his tree to continue practicing.

"Ok! I'm gonna get serious too!" crowed Jiraiya, charging up the tree. "If I beat Orochimaru, go on a date with me Tsunade!"

Tsunade immediately glowered at him. "For heaven sake you idiot!"

"Come, let them practice. They still got a long way to go," said Sarutobi, holding out his hand and taking Tsunade. To the boys, he shouted, "Come back for dinner you two!"

"Ow!"

Sarutobi winced when Jiraiya fell down on his head again. "Jiraiya! Try to land on your feet! You'll hurt yourself if you keep hitting your head."

Tsunade giggled and tugged on his hand. "Think he'll get even dumber, sensei?"

Three hours later...

"Man... my whole body hurts," groaned Jiraiya, lying flat on his back. He rolled over onto his stomach and moaned. "My stomach hurts too. I think I had too much chicken."

Panting and sitting against the tree, Orochimaru watched as Jiraiya hugged his stomach. "You should go back and rest," he commented.

"If I wasn't feeling bad, I'd totally have beaten you," groaned Jiraiya, heading in the direction of the farm. "Augh!" He barfed and held out a hand to stabilize himself. "I think falling down so much might have made my food go back up or something." He shook his head, making his wild hair swing back and forth. "I'm going to bed. See you later Orochimaru."

Orochimaru watched blankly as he left. Looking up at the sky, he noted that it was orange, streaked with laces of blue and purple. Night was soon approaching. Standing up, he warily took a look at Jiraiya's vomit. The smell was nauseating and he put a hand over his nose with a grimace. From the looks of it, most of the food that had been expelled was that chicken honey yakitori.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a few bees buzzing nearby. One of them landed on a bright pink and red flower and he gazed at it for a few moments before his eyes widened. Walking over to the plant, he bent down and cautiously looked it over, making sure not to touch a single part of it. "Oleander," he said quietly. He watched as a few of the bees disappeared out of sight. One of them however, returned to a nearby hive and his expression grew grim.

"Geez, serves you right for being a pig," muttered Tsunade as she wet a towel in the water basin and passed it to their teacher, who was looking over Jiraiya worriedly. "He probably just ate too much, sensei."

"I'm dying," whined Jiraiya, pulling the covers of his blanket up to his chin.

Sitting beside him, Sarutobi said worriedly, "He is looking incredibly pale. I'm no good at medicine but I think it's alittle more serious than just overeating and overexerting." He looked over his student once more. "Other than a few bruises from falling down, I can't see anything else that could be making you feel sick."

Tsunade yawned and crossed her legs. "I have some sleep medicine, sensei. Should I give it to him?"

"Probably," sighed Sarutobi. "Tsunade, take care of Jiraiya. I'll go ask for water and porridge for him. He shouldn't be eating solid food tonight."

With that, their teacher left. Watching over Jiraiya, she couldn't help but feel alittle sorry for him. He did look really sick. He was almost as pale as Orochimaru and he was groaning. Trying to distract him, she asked how he was doing with the training. Jiraiya forced a grin and replied, "I'm about three quarters up the tree haha. Orochimaru is only halfway."

Tsunade said in exasperation, "You know he was already more than halfway up the tree for his first attempt, right?"

Jiraiya said jealously, "Oh so you were watching him and not me?"

"Hehe." She giggled. "I watched you fall. But that's it." When he stuck his tongue out at her, she did the same thing.

The Shoji door to their room suddenly opened and Orochimaru jumped up the steps to the porch, his eyes serious. "Where's Jiraiya?"

"Eh?" Tsunade stood up. "Orochimaru, what's-"

"He's poisoned."

Tsunade gasped. "What?"

From the pocket of his sleeve, he drew out a scroll and laid it down on the ground. Making a hand seal, he said, "Release." From the scroll, a vial of honey appeared and he held it up. "All of the beehives around this place is near Oleander flowers. It's a common and ornamental plant but it's extremely toxic. The nectar the bees collected and made into honey, is now poisonous."

"Then the honey we ate is..." When he nodded in confirmation, Tsunade quickly sat Jiraiya up. "Puke it out!"

Jiraiya groaned and said, "I already barfed back in the forest."

Orochimaru spoke up. "I've been smelling the plant all day, until I realized what it was."

"The flowery scent around here?" asked Tsunade.

"It's also Oleander. The clothes Goga and Marui wore is drenched in it and alot of the smell was also coming from their storage room." Orochimaru opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue. His eyes sharpened and he quietly closed his mouth again. "It's not poisonous if we normally breathe in the scent. But body warmth and heat, causes the flowers to rot, or the perfume to heat up. Once you burn the flowers, the fumes are hazardous."

"So what does this mean? Am I going to die?" groaned Jiraiya.

"It means..." Orochimaru's eyes turned a poisonous yellow. "Someone is trying to kill that old couple. The clothes they wear and the honey they're eating is poisoning them." He then turned to Tsunade and said worriedly, "Did you eat any of the yakitori?"

"Ju-just one piece," she said nervously. He visibly relaxed and she couldn't help but feel warm inside. "Thanks for worrying, Orochimaru."

He nodded, not noticing her pink cheeks. "Go tell Sarutobi-sensei. I'll help Jiraiya to the bathroom to help him throw up the rest." She ran off to do as he said and he turned to his white hair teammate. Pulling one of his arm over his shoulder, he helped him to his feet. "Let's go."

"Augh, this sucks," Jiraiya complained. "How are you going to make me throw up anyways?"

"I'll shove my hand down your throat," Orochimaru said calmly.

Jiraiya glared at him. "Why do I get the feeling you are enjoying this?"

The corner of his lips twitched and he said slyly, "Perhaps you aren't such an idiot after all, Jiraiya."

"I should barf all over you," Jiraiya said grumpily.

It's because we're at war...

Darkwings13'

-Reference to Shippuden ep 127 for tree climbing

Poor Sarutobi. He'd never expect a D rank mission to turn out like this xDDD

This chapter was meant to shed some light onto Oro's relationship with his teacher and friend, Jiraiya. There's no way Sarutobi and Jiraiya would care so much about him if he was an asshole the hole time. Sarutobi clearly loved Oro alot, that he even saw his student back when he was a good kid before he died. :( Also, tried to explain abit about why Oro wanted to learn so many techniques and covet power. I'll expand on this in later chapters, especially with how he feels about the world being unfair and losing all faith in the 'Will of Fire'. Oh, and I'll just hint that snakes have very good sense of smell. XD

- JigokuShoujosRevenge, greetings friend! Haha, I loved the aphids part in the last chapter. I thought it'd be so him to give Tsunade a flower just to tell her to throw it cuz the aphids would kill the rest of the plants haha xD He's like a creally cute book genius that's alittle clueless about girls. Glad you liked the kids being all cute in the last chapter! :D

-Oh hello to new reader, Lord Creator! Thanks for your kind words friend. I too love Oro's character and am really excited to try and delve into his character, and try to comprehend who he is, and how he's changed through the years. He was so sweet in the beginning, going to his parent's grave and all with Sarutobi :'( Happy to hear you enjoyed my story so far friend! I'll keep doing my best. Cheerios! *holds up glass of juice*

-Guess I'm doing well with trying to portray the development of the team's relationship haha. Thank you ileangie23! And I think Jiraiya for sure probably kept the team photo. He's so similar to Naruto, he probably really missed Oro. As for Oro keeping the picture, I think he did. :) He did went back for his lucky white snake skin. He's a pretty sentimental guy, he just tries hard to hide it. Like how he cried while holding Sarutobi hostage during Konoha's Crush. Oh yea, and if we really compare Naruto with Jiraiya, I'm now reminded of the kissing scene with Naruto and Sasuke. Huehuehue *insert thoughtful guilty face* Thanks again for your lovely time!

:) Happy reading everyone.